


The Person Who Notices

by EllaMelody



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: AU, Co-workers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Mentioned Kim Mingyu, Mysterious Box?, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wonwoo is adorable, could be mental health issues but never specified, is that a tag?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25222900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllaMelody/pseuds/EllaMelody
Summary: You and Wonwoo are co-workers at a coffee shop. When everything goes wrong, he notices and is there to comfort you and more...This is just tooth-rotting fluff, written for anyone that's going through a hard time. You can do it! Wonwoo believes in you! Fighting!
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	The Person Who Notices

You were crying again, for the third time this week. Why did it have to be this way? Why was everything so needlessly difficult? You had so much to do and so little time and energy to do it. Now your parents were on your case too, nagging you like you were just being lazy about the whole thing. Like life wasn’t wearing you down to the bones. Like breathing wasn’t hard enough.

No, you couldn’t do this. If you kept falling apart like this someone would notice. They’d figure out something was wrong. You lifted your hand and scrubbed away the tears angrily from your eyes and cheeks. Your skin felt raw and stung but you ignored it. Instead you took out your make-up kit from your purse and covered the tracks of your tears as well as possible. It was time to get back to work.

Straightening your posture, you smiled cheerfully towards the door, testing the expression. It was doable. Time to fake it ‘til you make it. You entered the coffee shop cheerfully, greeting the customers with a big smile, pouring refills of coffee where needed. Taking some new orders you plated slices of pie and brewed new pots of tea. It wasn’t the work itself that was wearing you down, and you’d be damned if you let this affect your work performance.

“Y/N, could you restock the cookie trays? We’re running out of the smaller ones”, a deep voice said from behind you. It was your co-worker, Wonwoo, who was busy making lattes for what looked like an entire soccer team. You knew he wouldn’t be asking you unless he was swamped so you readily agreed, going into the storage room to fetch some refills. Carefully sidestepping a big tin box that stuck out from under the tall shelf, you found the right trays and began carefully refilling the cookies.

Balancing them back into the store, you slid them in behind the glass counter before you continued taking orders from the small queue that’d already began to form. Wonwoo gave you a thankful smile and you smiled back, feeling your mood lift a little.

Of all the things this job brought you, Wonwoo might be the best one. He didn’t say much, but he was a very good barista and whenever he had time he’d help out behind the register too. Overall he was dependable and sweet, and his presence always made you feel better. Plus he was really, really handsome, and his smiles had a way of melting even the coldest of hearts.

There was just something so comforting about his tall silent figure, usually dressed in black and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. Maybe it was the contrast between his deep soothing voice and his goofy smiles. Maybe it was just the fact that his shoulders-to-waist ratio looked amazing in the dark café apron, although you were sure he would’ve looked amazing even if the apron had been pink and full of frills. Whatever it was, you were happy he was there with you.

Together you worked through the shift, until the customers were all gone and it was time to close up. This had been a good day for sales, and you expected the owners would be very happy with the numbers once they saw them. You’d both worked your butts off and even though that made time pass quicker, it felt like a big relief that the shift was finally over.

“I’ll sort the register and you restock the shelves?” Wonwoo suggested, having just cleaned up the coffee machines.

“Sure!” you answered, finishing with wiping the last table before you went into the backroom to bring out some more coffee beans. Heaving the heavy bags into their place behind the counter, you felt the little energy you had left in your body evaporate. Why were you even here on a day like this? Sure working was fun, but how long would you be able to keep this up? Maybe tomorrow would be the day you just crashed in front of some customers, suddenly turning into a crying heap on the floor? When would this end?

Biting back a frown, you went back to the storage to bring out the teas and napkins. Wrapped up in your own head you didn’t notice the tin box, stumbling over it and scraping your leg against the sharp edge of one of the shelves.

“Ouch, stupid box!” you let out, swearing under your breath as you grabbed your leg to check how bad the cut was. The wound was just a little scrape but your pant-leg was slightly torn and it didn’t look like it could be fixed with a simple needle and thread. You sighed, biting back tears. This was not what you needed right now. On a normal day, a pair of pants wouldn’t have been enough to cry over, but what was even normal anymore…

Trying to control your emotions, you stretched to lift down the napkins, but your strength had completely left your arms and the stupid package was squeezed in-between two other packages and wouldn’t budge. You let out an angry growl and pulled with all your might, until it finally gave in, almost making you fall over with the sudden movement. You sighed again and put the package under one arm before the other started searching for the boxes of tea. Pulling one out, you settled it under your arm as well and started walking into the store.

Except once again you’d forgotten about the tin box on the floor. This time it tripped you up properly, and you fell in a flurry of napkins and tea bags, landing hard on the floor. You’re hip and arm ached, and you’d hit your head on the door post. Looking around you saw the floor littered with napkins and tea and just thinking about cleaning it all up seemed too much to handle. You’d reached you limit.

The tears began slowly at first, but once they’d started it didn’t take long before they’d turned into a virtual waterfall. It was too much. This was too much. You couldn’t do it. How were you going to do this?

“Y/N?” you heard Wonwoo say, and before you had time to do anything else, he was standing in the doorway, looking at you sitting on the floor in your pile of chaotic napkins, tea bags and tears.

“What happened?” he asked, worry covering his face.

“I tripped on the stupid tin box, again!” you whined, trying to blame it all on the fall and pull attention away from your other worries. “Stupid box!” you added, kicking it for emphasis.

“I’m sorry”, Wonwoo said lowly, kneeling down to move the box more out of the way, and starting to pick up some of the napkins.

“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault”, you protested, beginning to pick up stuff now too. You couldn’t let him clean up after you all by himself, now could you?

“It’s my box”, he said simply, continuing to clean up the floor. You froze.

“It’s your box?”

“Yes”

“I’m sorry”, you said, suddenly feeling awful about kicking it. On any other day the box being there would’ve been fine, but today your head wasn’t right and you didn’t pay attention and…

“Don’t be sorry. It’s my box, I’m sorry it was so in the way. I’ll move it to a better place”, he said comfortingly, hands now full of napkins. “Here”, he added, emptying them in a nearby trashbag, before holding it out to you to do the same.

“Thanks”, you said, emptying your hands too.

You continued working quietly, soon having cleaned the floor properly.

Finally trying to stand up, your legs wobbled dangerously. Wonwoo grabbed a hold of your arm, making sure you were stable again.

“Thanks”, you said, turning to get more clean napkins instead of the ones you’d dropped on the floor. Wonwoo didn’t answer, but just turned and went to throw the trash away outback. You took a deep sigh before raising your arms to wrestle with yet another package of napkins, lodged into its place on the shelf. This time it loosened much quicker than you’d anticipated and you fell backwards, another cloud of napkins raining down on top of you.

It was more than anyone could handle. When Wonwoo returned, you were ugly crying in a heap on the floor. He gave you a long look before coming over to sit next to you on the floor, putting his arm around your shoulders and pulling you into his chest. You kept crying, not even bothering to cover it up anymore. What was the point? The pool of napkins said it all. They were an obvious metaphor for what a mess and failure of a person you’d become.

Even if you felt empty and weak, his arms felt warm and nice around you. It felt stable and safe to be held this way. You couldn’t even remember the last time anyone had hugged you like that. Your make-up was probably smearing his apron, but that was okay. It would get washed later anyway. The sadness and exhaustion that you felt was too powerful to overcome by will, and in that moment you weren’t even sure you wanted to.

After a while of sitting like that though, your tears began to dry up. It started feeling awkward to have his arms around you. How were you even going to explain this to him? Still a part of you liked it. For the first time in a long while you’d been allowed to just cry and you’d felt safe and comforted.

But Wonwoo was a really nice guy and you didn’t want to make him feel bad. You felt ashamed of enjoying it that much, when you knew he’d probably be feeling very uncomfortable about the whole thing. So you did what you knew you needed to do sooner or later anyway.

“I’m sorry”, you said, pulling away from him slowly. “I don’t know what came over me. I must’ve just lost it.”

“Don’t apologize”, he said calmly. “We all have times of struggle in our lives. It’s part of being human.”

You looked over at him. Times of struggle? That was a bigger choice of words than you expected.

“I just spilled some napkins…” you said, feeling cornered.

He simply shrugged. You kept looking at him, expecting him to go on and explain himself. When he finally seemed to notice he shrugged again.

“You keep taking smoke breaks, but you don’t smoke”, he said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. “Also your make-up looks really fresh whenever you come back, but your eyes are always a little red. I figured you didn’t want me to know so I didn’t ask. But if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen. Are you having a hard time?”

That was enough to make you start crying again. He’d known. All this time you thought you’d covered it up so well, but he knew. And yet he’d respected your privacy and hadn’t pushed you about it. Then when it’d been too much he’d held you and let you cry your heart out about it. How could anyone be so nice? You weren’t used to having people like that in your life.

Seeing you start crying again, he pulled you into another koala hug, making himself comfortable on the floor and just waiting you out. Your tears didn’t last as long this time. Your heart was already drained and his stable presence made you find the ground under your feet much faster.

“I’m not sure if I can tell you about it all”, you mumbled. “It might seem a little weird.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to”, he answered. “But I doubt it’d be weird.”

“How do you know?” you asked, looking up at him, more curious than doubtful now. Somehow his deep voice made things seem real and manageable. If he said it, maybe it really was true.

He looked down into your eyes and gave you a kind smile.

“Because I’m human”, he said simply. “And so are you. And feelings are also human. It’s something we all share. The reasons may vary and some might be difficult to explain, but the feelings are all the same. Sadness, anger, hurt, disappointment: We all feel them sometimes. That’s what makes us human. So feelings can never be strange. They’re easy to understand, and they make it easier for us to relate to one another. Being sad feels the same to me as it does to you, so I can see it in your eyes, and I can understand the feeling and worry about you. In those moments the feelings are more important than the reasons behind them.”

You thought about that, about being a human in an endless sea of humans with individual emotions. Before that thought had terrified you, but now it made you feel warm inside. It meant you could be seen and understood. It meant you weren’t alone. Silent tears made their way down your cheeks. Somehow a burden seemed to have lifted. You had a long way to go, but it didn’t feel impossible anymore. You could get there now.

“When did you get so smart?” you teased, trying to diffuse the situation.

“I’ve always been like this”, he answered smiling back at you. “People say I think too much, but when there are so many things to consider and the world is so big and full of questions, how can I not notice them? I need to understand as much as I can, and then thinking can never be done enough.”

“Really?” you answered. “So you can never think too much?”

“I didn’t say that”, he mused. “There are moments when maybe doing is more important than thinking.”

“Like what moments?” you said. To your surprise you saw his eyes dart down to your lips for a second before they went back to your eyes. He suddenly seemed a bit embarrassed, giving you a sheepish smile.

“They exist”, was all he said, clearly not wanting to cross any forbidden lines. You wanted to cross them though. As soon as you’d realized what they were, you wanted to charge over those lines like a crazy person runs into a gunfight. Maybe the fact that his arms were still around you was the reason. It was a reminder of what it could be like being around him like this always.

“Do it”, you whispered.

He looked at you a little surprised.

“…do what?”

So he wasn’t as smart as he’d seemed to be a moment ago. You mentally shook your head at his ignorance.

“I know what you were thinking about”, you said simply. “Go for it! Don’t hold back on my account. I mean, I understand the tears and all can be a bit off-putting, but I’m not always like this, and if you want me then you should go for it. Or, I mean…” You’d just realized what you’d said and it didn’t sound half as cool as it had in your head. You needed to stop rambling. Why wouldn’t he ever interrupt you or stop you from going on like this?

“Are you giving me a pep talk?” he said, smiling at you.

You melted at his soft look that still seemed to contain an underlying confidence. How could he look this huggable and hot all at once?

“You can see it that way if you want”, you croaked. “Maybe a pep talk is what you need seeing as you haven’t kissed me yet…” Trailing off into a low mutter, you looked away to avoid his gleeful stare.

“A kiss, huh?” he teased. “That’s what you want me to do?”

“I mean, it couldn’t hurt…” you muttered, and then you heard him laughing softly. How could his voice be this deep? It sounded like his entire chest was rumbling.

“You know, a kiss won’t solve all your problems…” he said, now a little more seriously. “Nor will I.”

“I know!” you said quickly, slightly panicking at this sudden change in mood. “I’m not expecting you to. You can’t solve it, I mean. Not because you’re lacking in any way! Just because it’s something I need to solve on my own. And even if you could, like, that’s not what I had in mind. Not at all! I just… I really hope you didn’t get that impression. I…”

Finally, after having watched in amusement as you tripped over your own words for way too long, Wonwoo interrupted you with a kiss. His arm had snaked its way around your waist, and his other hand held your chin lightly. You’d been so close already that the movement took you completely by surprise. Taking advantage of your already half-open mouth, he tickled you with his tongue and left your body tingling with the feeling. Any trace of ignorance was gone now. Wonwoo clearly knew his way around both a woman’s mouth and her heart.

You felt yourself relaxing in his arms, letting him lead you in a make out session that seemed surprisingly passionate for a man that was usually so calm and quiet. Your arms had found their way around his neck and waist. It felt comfortable and natural somehow, having him this close.

His fingers were playing with your hair now, brushing it away from your face and you felt the palm of his hand warm against the side of your head. His other hand had found its way inside your shirt, in a move far too risky for someone as passive and sweet as him. Had he always been this brazen? It was easy to assume someone that quiet was also timid. With Wonwoo that was far from true.

Just when you’d started hoping he’d take your shirt off, or better yet, his own, he pulled away and gave you a sweet peck on the nose.

“I think that’s enough for today”, he said softly. “We should finish the last of our work and lock up.”

Before you had time to respond he’d stood up and reached out a hand, helping you up too. Said and done, he pulled out a new package of napkins and left the room, presumably to refill the holders in the store. You gave the door a long look, still wondering what the hell went through that man’s head. He really just left? After _that_? Men really were mysteries.

Deciding to do what he’d said, you reached down and cleaned up the spilled napkins, before grabbing another box of teabags and joining Wonwoo in the store. Glancing his way, he seemed to pay you no attention, too focused on filing a pile of receipts in the right folder. After that he disappeared back into the storage room and got more supplies to refill. It was like he didn’t even see you anymore.

Your mind was spinning with this weird change in behavior. Did you do something wrong? How could he be kissing you that passionately one second and then be working with this much dedication the next one? Was this a normal thing for him? Or was he too flustered to even look your way now? Considering how confident he’d seemed about the whole thing earlier, that didn’t seem true.

Finally you’d finished everything and went to grab your coat and bag.

“Hold on, I just need to do one more thing”, Wonwoo said and disappeared into the storage room again.

Oh, so now he could talk to you! Because he needed to do one more thing? When he’d been that determined to finish work and leave this place? You were more confused than ever. Had Wonwoo always been this confusing? Or had those kisses somehow burnt the last of your working brain cells? Was this normal behavior for a guy after kisses?

You didn’t have to wonder for long though, because soon he was back, now also grabbing his coat. You let him outside the door before you activated the alarm and locked up the place. Then you awkwardly turned to him, wondering what you should do next? Should you say something? You couldn’t just let him leave like this, could you?

“So, wanna get some dinner?” he said, beating you to it. “There might not be a lot of places open this late though, but if you don’t mind I have a roommate that cooks amazing food. He’s studying to be a chef and he’s always happy to share. What kind of food do you like?”

You looked over at him in surprise. Had he just asked you out? And even asked you over to his place? Was that why he’d been in such a hurry to leave?

“Maybe you don’t eat this late…” he filled in when you weren’t answering like he’d expected you to. “But that was such a crazy shift, and you must be exhausted by now. You’d feel better eating something I think.”

“You want to have dinner with me?” you asked, now feeling like you needed to make him spell everything out so you could understand what was actually going on in that brain of his.

“Yes, I do”, he said and smiled. “That’s why I’m asking you out for dinner. Or if you don’t feel comfortable going to my place, we could find some place that’s still open. I’m sure there’s still a hamburger joint or two open, if you’re okay with that kind of food.”

You were still not answering, since you weren’t sure what his intentions were with this whole thing. Was he trying to ask you out? Or just feed you? It was all a little unclear.

“If you really don’t want to eat anything we could just take a walk or something”, he said, now beginning to sound a little desperate. “At the very least let me walk you home. I understand if you’re too tired after work and just wanna go home and rest. But I really wanna spend some more time with you. Please let me walk you home, and then we could go on a more proper date some other day. If you want to, I mean?”

He sounded increasingly unsure with every word, like the confidence of earlier disappeared more and more the longer you stayed quiet. You almost felt sorry for him now. So he really did want to go on a date. He just wasn’t very good at telling you his plans in advance.

“I’d love to go eat something”, you finally said, smiling at his relieved face. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer. I just wasn’t sure what you meant.”

“What I meant?” he frowned. “By asking you to have dinner with me?”

“You were so quiet before when we were closing up…” you mumbled. “I didn’t know what you were thinking.”

“Oh”, he answered, seemingly just realized what you said was true. “I just figured it’d be nicer to go somewhere else instead of an old storage room. Not the most romantic spot for a first date.”

“I see”

“I’m sorry if I was unclear”, he added apologetically. “I figured the kissing was enough to make it obvious I wanted to date you. And I didn’t realize I was so quiet.”

“It’s fine”, you said, waving his apology off. “I should’ve just asked you before.”

“So you really thought I just ditched you?” he asked, a little stunned.

“No! I just…” you didn’t know how to salvage this. “I just wasn’t sure. I thought maybe I’d done something wrong. I felt you were going someplace and then suddenly you left...”

“Well, like I said, I didn’t think the storage room was the best spot for a date”, he filled in. “And in terms of going someplace, I can’t say I didn’t consider it, but considering how upset you were before, I figured it’d be best to wait. Take it slow and all, so I’m sure I don’t take advantage of you.”

“So that’s what you were thinking…” you said, blushing a little at his confidence having returned. How could he talk about these things so openly and straight forward? Also, take advantage of you; did he have a knight complex of something?

“You’re not taking advantage of me…” you added. “I might’ve been upset, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just turn into a pushover.”

“It’s not about being a pushover”, he said calmly. “It’s about being very emotional and what that can make you think you want. I’m sorry if you feel offended by that, but like I said before, I can understand the emotion. I’m gonna make sure you’re okay before I do something that might hurt you.”

“Because you know the feeling?” you asked. It was getting easier to follow his line of thought.

“Exactly”, he said and smiled. “I’ve done a lot of things I regretted in the past. It only makes sense I’d make sure you didn’t do the same, since I care about you and want you to be happy.”

“You care about me, huh?” you teased.

“I do”, he answered and smiled softly. “I like you a lot, and I want you to be happy with me. That’s why I insist we take it slow.”

“Fine”, you agreed, feeling your heart flutter at his sudden confession. “Since I like you too, I guess I’ll let you have it your way. We’ll go slow.”

“Good”, he beamed. “Now, about that food, what did you say you wanted to eat?”

You discussed the food for a little bit, and he called his roommate, apparently called Mingyu, to make the “order” for them. Seemed like his roommate didn’t mind cooking at all, although you heard his voice rise in volume when Wonwoo mentioned bringing a girl over. This seemed to be very exciting news to this Mingyu, even if Wonwoo kept answering him just as calmly. Clearly it wasn’t something that Wonwoo did very often, which also felt flattering.

Finally the dinner plans were all set, and you followed Wonwoo’s lead towards the closest bus station. It didn’t take long before a bus showed up, and you both got on board. Sitting down, Wonwoo must’ve seen your torn pants, because he reached down and studied the tear.

“Did this happen when you fell over my box?” he asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it. Torn pants are really trendy right now, aren’t they?” you joked, hoping it’d make him feel a little better. It didn’t.

“I’m really sorry”, he said, giving you a sad face. “I’ll pay for a new pair.”

“You don’t have to do that”, you protested. “It’s fine. I only tripped because I wasn’t paying enough attention to what I was doing. It was clumsy but I’m okay.”

“I moved the box now, so you never have to trip over it again”, he said seriously. “And I will pay for a new pair.”

“How about you pay me with some information instead?” you said, suddenly being struck by curiosity.

“Information?” he asked confusedly.

“Why do you have a box at work?” you asked. “And what’s in it?”

“You’re curious?” he asked, smiling your way.

“Of course I am”, you admitted. “It’s a secret box!”

“It’s not a secret”, he denied but smiled at your enthusiasm nonetheless. “It’s a box of cat food. There are a lot of stray cats in the alley behind the store, so I try to do what I can to help them. I refill bowls of water and food, and put out some blankets in the winter. It isn’t much but hopefully it’ll help them a little bit at least.”

_How can this man be so sweet?_ you wondered as you reached out your hand to grab his. He smiled at the contact and rubbed his thumb over the back of your hand. You leaned over and put your head on his shoulder, feeling how lucky you were to have him there beside you. You’d hold on to him for sure. Even if you failed at everything else, you knew it’d be fine as long as you held on to this man. The darkness wasn’t so dark anymore and your strength had started to return. You knew it wasn’t over yet, not even close, but it didn’t matter. With this hand to hold you’d be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so that happened. Since I've already written a few shorts with Seventeen members I decided to challenge myself with writing them about different members every time. This one ended up being about Wonwoo. I wonder who'll be next...
> 
> If you liked it, please leave kudos and/or comment because it really makes me overjoyed. Like really! I jump and dance! It's embarrassing but true. So please let me know if you liked it so I can boost my ego further and one day maybe I'll be dancing on the moon! That made no sense... Please ignore my randomness >.<*


End file.
